My Neighbor Le Blanc
Lenny wasn't sure if moving to that place was safe or not, but it definitely gave her the distance and space she needed from everything and everyone. Her state of emotional and mental stability was wracked by people-men in particular, giving her leering looks and unwanted attention that by the time she saw the ad about a space for lease at a far away place she immediately grabbed the opportunity to high-tail it out of Brooklyn and move to Kingsport with no idea where or what she was getting herself into. It was near the sea, something that was refreshing to someone who spent her entire life in the city. The population was a mix of very young kids to senior citizens whom she imagined would be baking pies on weekends, sunning themselves in the backyard, or just watching everyone by the porch. Which is how she met the one person whom Lenny was able to call 'dad'. Guessing that he was around 70 years or in that range, Lenny first saw him on her second week while returning from a run to the local grocery. She asked her matronly landlady while unloading her purchase in her small but welcoming apartment. "Oh! Dear, don't mind him. He's old, crappy and queer. But he's friendly and harmless," said her landlady after sipping her cup of tea quietly. They were enjoying tea and some biscuits after arranging her items in the cupboards and fridge. "He was a captain in his younger days, but I've known him before to be old. And he's still alive even after all these years." Lenny smiled as she heard this description. "Does he have relatives? It seems sad that he's all alone in that big house." "Oh no, dear. He lives all alone. He may have had family before, but no one really knows for certain." Since then, it became Lenny's mission, and eventually an act of paternal love to care and visit the old man. Her own father passed away when she was sixteen, and somehow she saw in him a link with her own lost father. At first he would not acknowledge her, or even pay heed whenever she would greet him or walk beside him. But as the days wore on, the residents and townsfolk became accustomed to seeing a young lady accompanying the aged figure as he went about his ways or doing groceries. Sometimes, they would see Lenny typing away on her laptop while sitting by the front porch of the old man's stately house. Lenny's work pays well, though at times would require her to ride a bus a couple of times a week to the next town or city to refresh her art supplies, update her art resources or meet up with certain clients. And when she gets off the bus stop, no matter what the hour, the old man would be seen waiting at the stop. An unspoken term, she would greet him and together they would walk home, he quietly listening to her as she relates her day. Sometimes she would bring him something, and Lenny would never really figure if he like them or not, but a smile would be seen, a rarity said her landlady. So it was that one day Mr. Hodges was surprised to find Lenny paying for double her regular supply purchase. "I'm just delivering some stuff to Mr. Le Blanc," was her answer as she rummaged in her jacket for her purse. "Mr. Le Blanc?" "Yep, he needs to have a name. And I can't keep calling him 'sir' all the time." So it was known that Lenny lovingly named their queer old captain as captain Le Blanc. One night while she was finalizing a report and checking the final view of a sample brochure she's working on, Lenny heard a loud knock. More like someone banging something heavy. Odd, as her landlady's son was away and would not be back for another week. Lenny apprehensively stole a peek through the eyehole and was appalled by the sight that greeted her. Earlier that day while at the grocery she overheard about a group of men raiding and ransacking houses, leaving its tenants in a state of hysteria. The description she heard matches the ones she now sees at her doorstep. Quietly she went back, grabbed her laptop and other equipment, and let herself out by the back kitchen window and made a dash to the old man's Victorian mansion across from her backyard. Midway Lenny tripped over some cans haphazardly placed by some neighbor which caused a loud clanging sound that she was sure alerted the men invading her apartment. Reaching the porch, Lenny knocked on the huge lion brass knocker, calling the old man by the only name she has ever called him when together. "Papa, Papa! There are men at the streets attacking homes. We're in danger, Papa. Please, come with me. We have to go now!" The door opened slowly, and Lenny rushed in and locked the door behind as fast as she could. A couple of hours later, a group of men approached the old man's house. Circling around they were able to take in that if they entered the house they would be able to make their getaway without ever being caught-not that it made a difference since there were only a few houses on this side of Seaman's Warf, notwithstanding that the house stood near the cliff overlooking the bay. They were five in all. Big men of hulking forms who know how to inflict pain. They entered in pairs, the last acting as a watchman. Hours later the watchman heard screams and cries, or was it those belonging to the surf and the seagulls that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Checking his gun, he noticed the front door slowly opening. Cautious, he entered, gun at the ready. This man found himself in a spacious area with a large stair twisting up to the second floor. A warm glow to the right beckoned to him. A receiving area with a bright fire greeted him, and upon a couch wrapped in a blanket lay the sleeping form of Lenny. One arm splayed out touching the crimson carpet, a shinning golden bracelet with sapphires adorning the exposed limb. The bright metal caught the fire making it dance like flames itself. He wanted it off her and was just about to forcibly remove it when he heard slow soft deliberate steps approach him. "That is simply not a way to treat a lady." Turning, the intruder was greeted by the old mad, only he looked imposing, menacing. And his eyes glowed eerily. In the following weeks, talk about the mysterious way that five men were found by the bay walk, stripped, tied at the back, and with lashes, cuts so deep that they were thought to have been made by long blades, and heavily beaten as if trampled upon by heavy set shoes. Life went on for Lenny, with her working away on her computer, living quietly at Seaman's Warf, and caring for Mr. Le Blanc. Though she never knew where the century old bracelet came from. For she remembers nothing after entering the Victorian house. Only that she woke up back in her own room like nothing happened the night before, and that the broken door and furniture were replaced with sturdier ones, the furniture of a more antique appearance. What more, she awoke to find a small box filled with golden doubloons and jewels of every kind. A letter of old parchment was under it, that she has kept secret along with her small golden fortune. It simply said, "A gift from father to daughter. Capt. Le Blanc". And life was not quite the same again for Lenny. Certainly for the better, but not quite the same. Category:Spin-Off